"If you marry, I will marry, and if you remain unmarried [ata'ayyami], \nAlthough I am younger than you, I will remain unmarried." (31)\n\nOur view is that custom restricts this term to women, and the ruling follows the conventional designation. The saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "I seek refuge in Allah from the stagnation of the 'ayyim," only intended the woman, for she is the one described by this, and her stagnation is what causes harm.\n\nSection: The "uzzab" (bachelors/unmarried persons) are those who have no spouses among men and women; it is said, a man is "azab" and a woman is "azabah." He is called "azab" because of his solitude, and everything that is solitary is "azab." Dhu al-Rumma said, describing a wild bull that had become solitary (32):\n\n"The lightning flashes illuminate a gathered, white one, \nAs if he were a solitary one wearing a tunic (qaba')." (33)\n\nIt is possible that the term "azab" is specific to men (34), because it is such in common usage, whereas the terms "thayyib" (previously married) and "bikr" (virgin) are shared by both men and women. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The virgin for the virgin is one hundred lashes and a year of exile; and the thayyib for the thayyib is flogging and stoning." (35) The "anis" refers to both men and women: the one who has grown old and has not married. Qays ibn Rifa'a al-Waqifi said (36):